Believe it or not but, in the 1940s, the Leicester area boasted no less than 25 cinemas.

This is according to a copy of a cinema listings page carried in the Leicester Mercury, which was sent in by reader Ray Newcombe, who lives in Aylestone.

The listings included the name of the cinema, which films were being shown and their start times and certificate.

These were the days when films were classified into three categories: U standing for Universal and suitable viewing for children; A standing for Adult, with some councils ruling that children must be accompanied by an adult; and H for Horror.

Some councils ruled that only those aged 16 or over could be admitted to these movies.

The H certificate was added in 1932 and remained in force until 1950, when it was replaced by the X certificate, which was enforced by all councils and ruled that only those aged 16 and older could be admitted.

Of course, these were the days before multi-screen cinemas when many just had one screen, exceptions to this including the Savoy on Belgrave Gate and the Trocadero on Uppingham Road which each had two.

The Lawn, at Birstall, was showing Cover Girl, starring Rita Hayworth, while the Sovereign, on Woodgate, and Shaftesbury on Overton Road were advertising Magnificent Doll starring Ginger Rogers and David Niven.